Fairytale castles, rainy cities + goodbyes
Trip Start
May 23, 2008
1
40
54
Trip End
Ongoing
Bern,
Switzerland
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday was a great day out, Desiree had to work but i went out with Jaqueline, Leila and their cousin Christoph. Our first stop was Montreux, a gorgeous but not so typically swiss town on lake Geneva, known as the 'Swiss Riviera'. It was very tropical and done up, sculptured gardens with varying designs lined the waterfront, and its a lovely stroll along the edge of the lake. Though you dont feel like your in Switzerland any more! The weather was quite cool, but the sun was still shining. We wandered for a while and then stopped in a Brasserie for some lunch, though i got a crepe rather than restaurant food... actually i had 2 - one was ham and cheese, and the second was the trusty nutella! We wandered for a bit more exploring the massively overpriced shops (Montreux is where the rich and famous hang in Switzerland) - fancy a €500 silver tissue box? Not realy in my budget.
After Montreux we drove 5 minutes down the road to the Chateau de Chillon, an 11th cent fairytale castle on the edge of the lake, full of dungeons, classic furniture, armour and weapons etc. We even got shown one of the beds used in the old times, it was a 4 poster but it was tiny, and there was a skirting board around the outside so you couldnt even dangle your legs off the side if you wanted to! The castle itself was pretty cool, I havent seen an actual medievil castle yet so this was my first experience.
On the way back home we took a different route back through the mountains, but the car ride put me straight to sleep and i snoozed all the way back to our break stop.
gardens in Montreaux
I managed to stay awake the rest of the trip home, though i think i was too scared to fall asleep as Christoph had already taken photos of me sleeping on Jaquelines shoulder and i didnt want any more incriminating or embarassing ones taken! When we got back to Bern we quickly got changed and then drove to Murten (where we had been at the lakes on Sunday) to celebrate my farewell. I was actually leaving Saturday, but not everyone was going to be available on Friday night to say goodbye, so Wednesday was our only chance. They took me to a fish restaurant overlooking the lake, where we had a traditional fish dish from the area, mine was with mushrooms and potatoes and it was damn tasty! They didnt have and sauser to drink though, as their grapes werent quite ready yet. But dinner was lovely, and afterwards we walked down and checked out the lake - as i expected it was cold wet and dark, so we promply headed back to the car!Yesterday Jaqueline drove us back past Interlaken and through the mountains to a glassblowing museum about 15 mins from Lucerne. Glassmaking had been going on in the area for a few hundred years, and they had created a free display using created scenes, video and audio to show a history of the area. It was in Swiss-German, so i didnt understand any of the voiceovers, but i watched the videos and Desiree translated where she could. At the end they actually have a real factory so you can watch it being made. That was probably the best bit of the tour for me! They also had a store and even a restaurant where you ate and drank off their glassware.
Montreux waterfront
This is where we had our lunch stop, and i had my first schnitzel of the trip, a nice traditional German meal!After lunch we drove to Lucerne and Desiree and me wandered around the shopping streets for a while. Lucerne was okay, but prettz much just like any other swiss city. And apparently if its going to rain anywhere in Switzerland, its going to be here. And rain it did, though lucky for us it wasnt too heavy. We were over it by that stage and went quickly to check out the beautiful timber bridge that crossed the river, full of flower boxes filled with bright flowers.
Jaqueline dropped us off at Leilas appartment in the city on the way home, firstly as this was the last chance for me to say goodbye before i left, and secondly - her house was just around the corner from the football stadium where we were going to watch a a game that night! It was sad to start saying goodbye to everyone even though i still had 2 sleeps to go! We hung out in the appartment with Leila and Michael for a couple of hours, and then put on all of the warmest clothes that we had (i was wearing thermals under my clothes, plus 2 jackets and 2 scarfs!) and we walked over to meet Cedric and his friends at the stadium pub. Adrian from Friday night was there, as well as some of Cedrics roomate and his soccer buddies. The whole stadium was full of males. Our seats were up on the top tier, right to the side of one of the end goals. We missed the start of the game as the boys were still drinking too much! We hadnt had any dinner as i was under strict orders to have my first Brutwurst, which is like the traditional pie + sauce at the footy back home.
sparrows
Its probably the dirtiest sausage ever, and comes with a huge dollop of mustard and a bread roll, but it was very very tasty! At half time we decided to move as there was pleanty of empty seats, so we sat pretty much at the same height but to the right side of the goals. The game was pretty good, I really enjoy watching soccer now, although im starting to think i am bad luck as the team that i go for always seem to loose! or at least this game Bern drew with Brugge 2:2. But close enough. Nothing too exciting happened, there was a tiny group of Belgium fans who were going a little bit crazy anytime anyone scored or if anything exciting happened, which was mildly entertaining, + just when we thought it was all over (score 1:2 in favour of Brugge) Bern scored in the final minutes and it was craziness as they tried to get a third. The crowd (especially the boys) were on the edge of their seats. Yet again it was disapointing to have to walk out with all those sad faces, as i have yet to experience the craziness of the a european home team win. it seems Belgium werent too happy either as they smashed up the pub we had been in earlier that night.When we got home we found out the really sad news that Jaquelines brother had passed away that day, + we all ended up around the kitchen table discussing life and its complications and so on. It was sad that the conversation stemmed from such an unfortunate event, but it was a good talk all the same. We then went straight to bed as we were absolutely buggered!
Thismorning i had a decent sleep in and then headed into Bern to do some last minute shopping, + to buy some thankyou presents.
me and the sculpture titled Homme/Poisson/Volant
I also had a parcel of stuff to send home so i organised that and just pottered around, packing up my stuff, finalising plans etc. At about 6pm we jumped in the car and drove to Fribourg to Desirees godmothers house, where we had dinner with her family - of the most amazing dish of baked asparagus wrapped in ham in a tomato and cream sauce. It was so good I even wrote down the recipe! Cant wait to get home and try and recreate it.When we were ready we all rugged up and headed into town to watch a sound and light display being projected onto one of the cliff-faces of the city. We didnt know what to expect as this was a one off event, and there were thousands of people vying for a position down the bottom of the cliffs. It was brutally cold and the show turned out to be a bunch of images, mostly depicting Jesus and christianity, with spotlights and classical music. Kind of wierd for everyone that came, but an enjoyable night out none the less. and Fribourg was spectacular at night. Afterwards we found a pub that wasnt completely full and had a drink to warm up, then i hiked up the hill with Peter to collect the car so the everyone didnt have to walk so far (I have to try and work off all this bad food that i have been eating!) and we headed back to Bern.
Tomorrow im back off to Paris on the highspeed train which should be pretty cool! Im looking forward to being back in a hostel as i have missed always having people around me, But being in this house has been so great, im not used to having my own space and being able to spread my stuff out so much! Desiree and her whole family have been nothing short of amazing and i definately feel like a part of their family. I think that they are just as sad to be saying goodbye as i am! The swiss people in general are so generous and kind, after experiencing so many contries full of rude people it was definately a welcome break! They are so neighbourly and community based, clearly always looking out for each other. I feel indebitally greatful to them for their amazing hospitality and there would have been no way that i would have seen all that i did without them. This country and experience will always remain a definate highlight and Desiree will remain an incredibly close friend.
Comments
More FOOD and that game with the round ball.
Thanks Kate, I was really into withdrawal mode it had been so long since your last blog. Love the pics of the chateau and the lake. Keeping up your obsession with food I see. Perhaps you should remane your blog along the lines of.... 'to eat is worth more than reading a hundred recipes- my gastronomic adventures around the world.' I'm looking forward to trying your recipe when you get home. If you were wearing your thermals in Switzerland why did you send them home??? Perhaps you want me to send them back so you can wear them in Scotland!!!! Are you going to follow the soccer when you come home? That makes a change and it keeps up the family tradition of ignoring Aussie rules. We love this time of the year when it all goes away for a while. Keep up the good work over there. Luv Mumxox
Time to move on....
Hey Kate, well you know that part of your travels is saying goodbye, but as you say Desiree will always be a close friend, hopefully she can come visit Australia one day and you can return the hospitality. She is a pretty girl that Desiree.
By the way great photos again, goodness you're going to have a lot of scrapbooking to do when you get home. I'm in for that asparagus recipe too...sounds yum. Great blog thanks but I must away to the email section of my computer as I see some random from overseas has emailed me and I must reply to her haha. Luv Donsy xx